Max Verstappen found himself battling an old rival at the Hungarian GP. With McLaren out of reach immediately after the start, the Dutchman’s rear-view mirrors were notoriously filled by Lewis Hamilton. The 2021 neck-to-neck battle returned for fans to enjoy but ended infamously, as always. While the FIA took no further action for their Lap 63 collision, the drivers had conflicting views. Allow Red Bull team advisor Helmut Marko to sway the argument in your head in their favor.

Fighting for the last podium place, the former championship rivals collided in Lap 63. Verstappen locked up at the end of the main straight, braking later than usual as Hamilton slightly turned into the corner. The Dutchman’s RB20 got some air time, looking like an airplane about to land steeply. While Verstappen accused the 7-time champion of moving under braking, Hamilton brushed it off as a ‘racing incident’. “It’s easy to make mistakes like that,” he said in the post-race press conference. “So I don’t feel there should be any hostility. But of course, from his side, there always will be,” the Briton concluded, as the McLaren pair grinned, sitting next to him.

Helmut Marko, however, has his driver’s back. “I spoke to Verstappen about this: Of course, the wheels of his car locked when braking, but he would have made it through the corner,” the Austrian wrote in his column for Speedweek. “So there was no question of him losing control of his car. Max was ahead, but Hamilton turned in, and everyone could see what happened.”

It was a day to forget for Verstappen, if not a weekend to forget. After all, his Sim Racing team did win the 24 Hours of Spa when the Hungarian GP was on. Using this as a segue, let’s dive into the upcoming Belgian GP at Spa, the Red Bull talisman’s favorite race of the year.

Helmut Marko confidently predicts Max Verstappen’s return at the Belgian GP

The last 3 Belgian GPs have been won by Max Verstappen. While the 2021 victory was gifted to him with the wet race concluding after 3 laps behind a safety car, the next two races were dominantly conquered. At the ever-dangerous Spa, the weather is very volatile, with guaranteed rain on at least one day. While a wet qualifying is predicted, the sun will make a comeback on race day. Though Verstappen will suffer a 10-place grid penalty accounting for an engine change, Helmut Marko believes the weather will play into their hands.

“Now it’s on to Belgium,” Marko wrote about the upcoming race at Spa, “One of Max’s favourite tracks, where the weather changes almost every hour, and the way it looks today, this will also be the case this time – with rain on Friday and Saturday, but then probably a dry track for the race. That should go in our direction,” he added, warning podium contenders McLaren and Mercedes.

In rainy conditions, Mercedes’ W15 will be a victory contender, as seen in Silverstone. Lewis Hamilton is also the only other multiple winner (4x) of the Belgian GP from the current grid. But with a dry race on our hands, the reigning champion will show why he’s the reigning champion unless McLaren becomes a party pooper for the second time in a row.

What are your thoughts about the events lined up for this weekend? Let us know in the comments below.